End of year rituals or habits

Catlady

Catlady

Well-known Member
Location
Southern AZ
At the end of year, on January 1st since all banks and stock markets are closed, I do a monetary assessment. My rituals are mostly financial, but I also try to do as much house cleaning and decluttering in December as I can to start the new year right.

1. Make up a budget for the next year listing all the expenses I save for in a special savings account where they get paid from. Insurance premiums, house taxes, HOA fees, Car repair estimates and registration fee, gift estimates. Any big expenses I need to budget for, mostly expenses that can be calculated. I add them all up and divide by 12 and that is the amount I deposit every month to that account before I spend another dime. Groceries I pay for with what's left because I never know how much I will need each month, and the money available for them can easily be adjusted depending on money available.

2. By end of December I pay off any credit card balance in full, including any charges in December and not payable till January. Start with a clean slate.

3. Start a new expense sheet for the new year where I list monthly expenses paid (to get an idea of yearly expenses for everything). That's where I get my amounts for the budget.

4. Write up balance sheet of net worth, listing balances in all my savings, checking, brokerage account and any liabilities (usually have none), house value at Zillow.com, auto value at KelleyBlueBook.com, to find out how much I am worth every single year. Been doing this for a decade now. I also write down auto mileage.

Do you have any end-of-year rituals, financial or personal?
 

Last edited:
1. Other than piercing my chest muscles with
small(-ish) meat hooks, and hanging from them on a Live Oak in my back yard, to please the Spirits, so they may bless me, and mine, with a prosperous and healthy new year, I don't really do all that much. So, no, no big rituals........

2. I almost forgot: I do put on a leotard, tutu and toe shoes, and then prance around the outside of my house, blowing bubbles, to ensure that evil spirits stay far away from my property. I usually only make one pass, because the nice young men in white coats normally show up, then, to calm me down. Darn neighbors!

Happy New Year, to Everyone!
 
I'm big on calendars. We have one on our main desk where I write in all the bills that need to be paid during the next year, when taxes are due and when certain checks are automatically deposited in our checking account.

I have a calendar in the kitchen drawer I use to write down a weeks worth of dinners. I hate getting up in the morning and trying to decide what to have for dinner. It also helps when writing out my shopping list.

I also have one on the door in the kitchen for appointments,birthdays, and vacations we are planning.

I try to get the house in order, freezers defrosted,rugs washed because after the New year it's " me time". projects come out and my sewing machine. Heaven help anyone who asks me to do something out of the ordinary.
 
I review my finances, pay all outstanding bills, create a loose budget for the new year, tally up a balance sheet and do a thumbnail estimate of my income tax. It sounds like a lot but it only takes about an hour.

On New Year's Eve. I set out the trash just before midnight or before I go to bed.

I try to eat inexpensive foods on New Years Day and not spend any money for as long as possible into the new year, the way you start the new year will set the pattern for the year ahead.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I try to eat inexpensive foods on New Years Day and not spend any money for as long as possible into the new year, the way you start the new year will set the pattern for the year ahead.
Click to expand...
My father had a similar view about spending. He also used to say not to start anything, like at the end of the day, that you could not finish until another time.

I wish I could do the trash thing (get rid of the trash in your life), but my trash collection is Tuesday morning, so that won't work, at least this year. LOL
 
If I'm awake at midnight on New Years Eve, I go outside and bang pots and pans together like my mother's family did.

Also, If I'm awake, I will eat whatever I want; expensive tho' it may be. Who cares about the rest of the year? I could easily go without a meal or three later in the year....if I'm still around.

At this stage of the game, bring on the lobsters and scallops! Let's have some champagne and caviar! Tamale pie sounds good, too.
 
RadishRose said:
If I'm awake at midnight on New Years Eve, I go outside and bang pots and pans together like my mother's family did.

Also, If I'm awake, I will eat whatever I want; expensive tho' it may be. Who cares about the rest of the year? I could easily go without a meal or three later in the year....if I'm still around.

At this stage of the game, bring on the lobsters and scallops! Let's have some champagne and caviar! Tamale pie sounds good, too.
Click to expand...
Is that to drive away the evil spirits? :devilish:

I'm making Moussaka for Christmas and green corn tamales for New Year's eve AND day. I'll be off my diet those two-three days, I deserve it!.
 
Catlady said:
Is that to drive away the evil spirits? :devilish:

I'm making Moussaka for Christmas and green corn tamales for New Year's eve AND day. I'll be off my diet those two-three days, I deserve it!.
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know why... I never thought about evil spirits. I thought it was about celebration.

"Moussaka for Christmas and green corn tamales for New Year's eve AND day. I'll be off my diet those two-three days, I deserve it!"

Oh yum. I wish I could come to your house!
 
RadishRose said:
I honestly don't know why... I never thought about evil spirits. I thought it was about celebration.
Click to expand...
Anytime you bang something, it's to drive away evil spirits. That's why we clink glasses together, the evil spirits are inside the glass ready to enter our bodies when we drink. When we clink, the noise startles them and they jump out. LOL Anyway, that's what our superstitious ancestors believed.
 
Catlady said:
Anytime you bang something, it's to drive away evil spirits. That's why we clink glasses together, the evil spirits are inside the glass ready to enter our bodies when we drink. When we clink, the noise startles them and they jump out. LOL Anyway, that's what our superstitious ancestors believed.
Click to expand...
Amazing @Catlady. Thank you for this.... You know, I wondered why we clink glasses together. I can't wait to pass this on to my grandsons!

200w3.gif
 
@RadishRose - Here's more than you EVER wanted to know about clinking glasses. LOL

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/of-drinks-and-clinks/
And here are New Year's traditions and rituals, including banging pots and pans

http://www.digitalgothic.net/Sanctuary/newyears.htm
NOISEMAKERS AT MIDNIGHT: The idea of making deafening noise is to drive away the evil spirits who flocked to the living at this climactic season with a great wailing of horns and shouts and beating of drums. This is why at the stroke of midnight we hear the deafening cacophony of sirens, car horns, boat whistles, party horns, church bells, drums, pots and pans - anything that serves the purpose of producing a devil chasing din.
 
Last edited:
Catlady said:
@RadishRose - Here's more than you EVER wanted to know about clinking glasses. LOL

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/of-drinks-and-clinks/
And here are New Year's traditions and rituals, including banging pots and pans

http://www.digitalgothic.net/Sanctuary/newyears.htm
NOISEMAKERS AT MIDNIGHT: The idea of making deafening noise is to drive away the evil spirits who flocked to the living at this climactic season with a great wailing of horns and shouts and beating of drums. This is why at the stroke of midnight we hear the deafening cacophony of sirens, car horns, boat whistles, party horns, church bells, drums, pots and pans - anything that serves the purpose of producing a devil chasing din.
Click to expand...
Fascinating about the clinking glasses and surprising...it's not about demons. Have to read to the end.

I'm about halfway throught the banging and noise making article. Very interesting! I'll have to go back to it. My eyes need a rest now.
 
Here's another, very entertaining article about clinking glasses, it says basically what Snopes said. The evil part was the one I read about a long time ago.

https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-do-people-clink-their-glasses-before-drinking-a-toast.html
The Most Common (and Incorrect) Answers to This Question…
If you’ve ever thought about this subject before, and did some cursory research or asked a local bartender, you may have found a wide range of explanations for the tradition of clinking glasses. One of the most popular assertions is that it was used in history to drive off evil spirits, as it was believed that the ringing of bells and clinking of glasses held some sway over the supernatural forces of the world. Sounds a bit silly now, but this was believed for hundreds of years, and many people still assert that this is the origin.
 
Around the end of the year I list current income and outgoings, prepare a new calendar, writing in birthdays etc., 31 December my daughter and I FaceTime each other at midnight, with a drink to see in the new year together 🥂
 
treeguy64 said:
1. Other than piercing my chest muscles with
small(-ish) meat hooks, and hanging from them on a Live Oak in my back yard, to please the Spirits, so they may bless me, and mine, with a prosperous and healthy new year, I don't really do all that much. So, no, no big rituals........

2. I almost forgot: I do put on a leotard, tutu and toe shoes, and then prance around the outside of my house, blowing bubbles, to ensure that evil spirits stay far away from my property. I usually only make one pass, because the nice young men in white coats normally show up, then, to calm me down. Darn neighbors!

Happy New Year, to Everyone!
Click to expand...

Pshaw, you would be an exciting addition to any neighborhood
 
jujube said:
I like to have the house in good order for the New Year. It's probably not going to happen this year as we still have boxes to be unpacked and I haven't hung a single piece of art yet. I'm running out of time and I'm not even running...….

On New Year's Day, we always eat pork and black-eyed peas for good luck. It's a Southern tradition.
Click to expand...
Hold the piggy parts, please! I cook up a mess of vegan black-eyed peas, starting at around 11 PM. We eat them with my mini corn muffins, while sipping champagne, at Midnight. My daughter's family comes by in the morning to feast. Fun stuff!
 
@jujube I do black eyed peas thing too on New Year's Day. I make a huge pan of Hoppin' John which I serve over rice, and mounds of cornbread and a loaf or two of crusty bread, and it simmers on the stove all afternoon as the family and friends come by to serve themselves a bowl or two, and visit awhile.

My other End Of Year rituals are:

1. On the first weekend after New Years I clean out my closet and drawers, getting rid of the things I haven't worn through the year, sometimes trying things on if I can't remember why I haven't worn them, and take the bags to goodwill the same day. This year that will need to wait a week though, because we're going away to our favorite AirBnb for the weekend.

2. I wait till the New Year to put away Christmas decorations, and as I do I sort through what I didn't use this year and determine if I need to keep it or get rid of it. That way I'm never in the situation of some of my clients, with an entire storage room filled with Christmas decorations, but the only ones that are used are the ones closest to the door!

3. I don't do any in depth financial stuff, but I do overview my client list and the income I derive from them, and make certain determinations regarding my schedule, my rate and any other issues that need to be addressed.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top